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The wet weather in these parts led to an almost (but not quite) predictable cancellation of soccer games on the weekend that we were supposed to provide snacks. This means I ended up staring at a surplus of navel oranges and thinking, “What am I going to do with these?” Marmalade presented itself as an…

In the ScienceBlogs Pi Day bake-off, it would seem that Pastry Chef Free-Ride has a posse. Reader Jake emailed me to share a pie recipe for me to prepare with the sprogs. Writes Jake, “This is one member of the extended family of molasses crumb pies and a cousin to the Pennsylvania Dutch Shoo-fly Pie.…

We’re still a week away from Pi Day, but the break in the rain here has made me believe that spring may be on its way. What better way to celebrate spring (especially in the aftermath of a wintertime fruit pie) than a violet custard pie? The violet custard is based on a recipe from…

It’s not Pi Day yet, but there’s no reason to believe my first pie will be the one that hits the target. So, here’s my opener in anticipation of March 14th, a dried cherry/dried apricot/apple pie in a nut crust. I’m calling it an end-of-winter fruit pie because it’s made with what I have on…

Another “Ask a ScienceBlogger” question has been posed: What do you see as science fiction’s role in promoting science, if any? For an answer to the question as asked, what Isis said. Also, what Scicurious said about a bunch of related questions. Myself, I think science fiction could do more than make non-scientists excited about…

As I emerge from my fever, I ponder the latest “Ask a ScienceBlogger” question: There are many, many academic bloggers out there feverishly blogging about their areas of interest. Still, there are many, many more academics who don’t. So, why do you blog and how does blogging help with your research? I started this blog…

Once again, Dave Ng at The World’s Fair issues a challenge: If you had to write your memoirs in 6 words, what would they be? Writing that memoir today, here are mine: Chemist. Philosopher. Parent. Blogger. Grown-up? Someday. Six words fit very nicely in the comments field — what’s your life story?

“What is a disease?” It would be nice to think that this is the kind of question where there are clear-cut, fact-based answers to be had. “Disease” is a term that seems to pick out a category of biological conditions, and biologists are pretty good with categorization.

David Ng at The World’s Fair asks what kind of scientist Santa Claus might be. I’m not sure I have the answer to that, but I at least have a hunch about what kind of scientist might make the most headway studying Santa. (Of course, if Santa followed Socrates’ advice to “Know thyself,” that would…